Summoned
by LyingPotato
Summary: Forced into hiding in the ruins of Hogwarts once Voldemort makes his move and takes over, Hermione is forced to give up her wand in an effort to fight off those seeking to kill muggleborns and destroy Voldemort and his horcruxes for good.


**Summoned**

 **Ruins and Retribution**

 **Chapter 1**

A large flock of birds could be seen flying from a large, almost deserted forest, leaving the safety of the branches they perched upon. The weather wasn't particularly rough, even though storms seemed to be common these days. Clouds slowly rolled around in the sky as if trying to hide from the wind. The birds had been spooked by a large crashing sound coming from the ruins of a what was once was a grand castle. The huge towers were now either destroyed or were half hanging on to life as large bricks and debris scattered the area. The large entrance arch still stood somehow, but gone were the huge oak doors that was once hinged there. Floors could be seen from other floors, large holes and even entire walls appeared throughout what was left of the castle. Anyone who had seen it in its former glory would simply stare at it in horror if they saw it now.

Yes, the once almighty Hogwarts was now a mere ruin. The sign to ward people off now no longer reflecting an illusion, but the real thing. Even the very magic that was almost pulsating from the stones was gone, leaving a lifeless shell that used to be full of students, cheerful and eager to learn the secrets that was magic.

7 years. That was how long it had been since Voldemort had taken over. It had been slow at first, quiet even. But more and more deaths appeared in the papers and more and more students and their families vanished without a trace. The ministry tried to deal with it, to stop him. It only seemed to entice Voldemort more though as his craving for dominance and total control grew. He eventually attacked the ministry, killing everyone inside, even the minister. It had been a bloodbath, merely unjustified slaughter but that was what Voldemort believed in. He could not comprehend passion, or love. The bravery of others caused him to torture them more than others. To set an example of what bravery did for you. He made many speeches, rallying for support as their new ruler. Everyone knew however, that he was a twisted soul who was on capable of murder. People protested against him, even attempted to kill him. They all failed, and they were all put on display; to show the others. He spouted security for the future, of prosperity to wizards and ruling over muggles. To the purebloods it sounded great, exactly what their ideals were but it didn't take long though for some of them to realise what was happening. There was no benefits for them like they were promised, only labour and following what he told them to do and killing innocent people, even if they were muggles; was wrong. He killed anyone who betrayed him, spoke out against him, pure of blood or not.

Eventually, there wasn't much left. The few muggles that realised what was happening fled or went into hiding leaving houses, streets and towns mostly empty. Even most of the wizarding population had been wiped out, leaving only mostly purebloods who were faithful or just too scared to stand against him. 7 years it had been, of hell and anguish for the ones who remained. The killing still continued and anyone using magic that didn't have the mark would be tortured or killed. Under Voldemort's rule, there were no winners, only those he saw as weak and those who he could use.

There was one girl, however, who stood up to it. Who wanted to see him destroyed, to free the people who couldn't fight for themselves. Hermione Granger was a muggle-born witch who longed for Voldemort's downfall. Her parents had been killed along with the other muggle-borns, who along with muggles; were the first to go. They had always been looked down on by the purebloods but as soon as Voldemort took over he considered them a stain on his legacy.

A legacy Hermione was fated to destroy.

Hermione had always been a gifted child, she was very intelligent and would always be found exceeding the schools she was placed in. Her parents were proud beyond measure for their daughter but what was to come next they would soon find themselves being even more proud. At the young age of 11 Hermione was greeted by a very old man, whose name was Albus Dumbledore. He had shown up one morning out of the blue, no warnings of any kind; just seemed to appear at the doorstep in a long, plum coloured robe. He told her the strange things that often happened around her, especially when she was angry or upset was because she was a witch. To Hermione she accepted this almost instantly, always knowing she was different. She was often bullied by her peers; she knew she sometimes forced her ideas or intellect on others but that was just who she was. Her parents were not as quick to believe the old man, thinking it was some kind of trick or plot. But the old man demonstrated and sure enough they were all but forced to believe as the contents of the living room floating a few inches off the ground. He told them about Hogwarts, and what she would learn. The entire time the old man was there, he seemed to be searching for something in her. His piercing blue eyes almost staring into her soul as if to confirm a theory. Hermione just assumed he was little _too_ smart, and there for; a bit crazy.

It had been a short lived dream she would come to learn. She hadn't been at Hogwarts long when Voldemort finally struck out publicly. Dumbledore had been acting strange the entire time she had noticed, often asking her to come to his office for strange conversations that didn't make sense to her. Their last chat he had handed her a letter that would open should he die. Again this didn't make much sense to her but she had taken the letter anyway.

A few months later, after everyone had been sent home and told to go into hiding did the letter open one day. She cried after she came home, having snuck out with her father to get food and saw the open letter on her bedside table. She hadn't known the old man long, but he had treated her the same as everyone else and seemed almost like a grandfather to her. She read the letter slowly, as it was rather dense with words her young mind would soon come to understand. It spoke of how there was a prophecy, that she was fated to stand against Voldemort and that she had the power he knew not. A power to rid the world of the evil that he was. It also spoke about Horcruxes, a way for him to never die and possible locations for them. There were warnings, that she may likely fail but to never give up. Dumbledore wrote about how she should head for Hogwarts when it all died down, that the castle would protect her and that she would find answers there. It wasn't the most useful set of instructions she would later find out. But she was entrusted with this knowledge, a way to destroy Voldemort.

Her family was killed shortly after. She'd gone out alone for more food one day and come back to her house to find it missing half of it, the bricks from the walls scattered the cluttered floors and most of the roof hung limply into the house. She searched the house but couldn't find them, only ruin and destruction. She cried for so long that day. It only fuelled her hatred for whatever that _thing_ was and what it was likely doing to other families. She packed whatever she could in a rucksack and left what remained of her house for the final time. With a look back over her shoulder she wiped away the remaining tears and made her way north. She had always been good with directions, she had a strong inner compass.

And that's how Hermione found herself standing in the ruins of Hogwarts, glaring at a simple looking oak door.

"You stupid thing, why won't you open!" She yelled at the door before swiftly kicking it. Cursing into the air as she clutched her foot and fell back to lean against a large piece of stone that used to be a wall. She had been trying for days to get into the room. It had appeared one day when a new piece of the school fell down. It was the only door that she couldn't open, mostly because the other doors were piles of splinters now. She didn't know what it was, her limited time actually at Hogwarts as a student didn't give her much to go by.

Leaning back Hermione sighed as she stared at the door, wondering what was in there. The school was supposed to be devoid of magic now after Voldemort almost burnt the entire thing to the ground with fiend fire. She had come here when she was 13, being only 11 when she read Dumbledore's letter was a little young; although 13 wasn't much better. She'd hidden herself in the streets of London. Wizards didn't really know it all that well and having been brought up there she knew the city as well as any adult even at a young age. She'd nearly been caught a few times but thanks to dumb luck and possibly accidental magic she had always gotten away. Voldemort's henchmen were always scouring the country or apparating to people using magic to take them away to who knows where. She assumed they would just be killed though, as sad as it was to think about. Hogwarts was her home now though, or what was left of it. No one was around which while it made it very lonely at least she was alive and not being rounded up like sheep like everyone else. She'd scavenged some books from what was left of the library and she took to reading them almost every night. In the day she explored the school but after being here for so long now there wasn't really much else to look at. It was mostly ruin anyway. She didn't dare try and use magic, she was far away from London but that didn't stop Voldemort detecting her. She didn't know how far his range went.

A simple way for her to get food from the village, which was overrun by pure bloods now allowed her to survive alone. She'd found a cloak in Dumbledore's office, which had taken a lot of damage by the looks of it but somehow was one of the least damaged parts of the school which she always found strange, but perhaps the school tried to protect that part of it more than the others. She'd stared at it with wide eyes when she found out what it could do, originally grabbing it just for warmth as she didn't have much left after her journey from the south and yelling in surprise when she passed a broken mirror and saw only her head floating along.

Apart from all the horrible things that could go wrong though, she felt quite safe. She had made an undamaged and empty classroom into her makeshift room, which included a semi-comfortable bed she'd constructed out of wood and any fabrics she could find. It kept the cold out at night at any rate.

"Some saviour I am… Can't even open a shoddy door.." Hermione mumbled to herself as she absently rubbed her toes through her beaten up trainers.

She hadn't been told much about what she was supposed to do. Dumbledore's letter explained the prophecy and briefly about horcruxes and that the school would be able to help. So far she couldn't use magic and the school was falling down more and more every day. She had liked Dumbledore the moment she met him, but she wouldn't lie when she thought he'd thrown her under the bus. What was an 18-year-old, barely trained wizard supposed to do about the most powerful dark wizard of all time. The fact she couldn't even _use_ magic stopped a lot of her learning. Reading only got her so far too.

Pulling a hair band out of her jean pocket she pulled her hair back and tied it behind her head in a ponytail. She stood up and patted down her dirty t-shirt and jeans. Even though she knew some cleaning spells from the book's she recovered she still couldn't use magic for obvious reasons. Instead she had to wash everything in the lake which she hated because it took a long time for things to dry and she had limited clothes. _Guess I'll give up for now_ she thought as she made her way back to the classroom she was using.

She pulled open the door and walked inside. Her makeshift bed made of all sorts of colours of cloth and fabric was against the wall in the corner and there were books and all sorts of odd items scattered around that she'd managed to find in the ruins of the school. Hermione wasn't the tidiest person anymore but she certainly knew where everything was.

Hermione walked up to a slightly cracked mirror propped up against the wall and stopped before it, looking at herself. Her brown hair was slightly covered in dust and her blues eyes shined brightly. She'd always liked her eyes, people often said she resembled her mother. She twisted her body around so she could look at herself and sighed softly. She couldn't believe how old she was already, it seemed only a few months ago she was running from Voldemort's men at the age of 13 as she escaped London and headed for Scotland.

Moving over to her bed she sat on the edge and let herself fall back, her head bouncing only slightly on the thin blankets. It wasn't very comfortable but it was home. She'd often just lie here and think about what was going on outside in the world, if the friends she'd made in the few months of school were even still alive. She was lucky, she knew; but Dumbledore left her some clues, no matter how hidden, and she was determined to find out. She wished it wasn't so lonely though, that she could have even one friend. What she missed most of all was the fact that she couldn't do any magic after finding out about the existence of it and it's world, with the ministry gone; as bad as it was she would be able to use magic without them breaking down her door. She didn't think she had much magic in her though. The few things they learnt at school she was one of the worst in her class even though she had read the books, learnt the material; all off by heart. It was always a struggle to do anything. It often played on her mind what Dumbledore saw in her, why he thought she was the one described in the prophecy.

Eventually feeling tired she tugged off her jeans and laid down on the bed leaving her t-shirt on. Pulling the fraying blanket towards her she wrapped it tightly around herself. It was getting colder and colder recently and she wasn't sure why, she'd often have a very uneasy feeling too like she was being watched but she never saw or found anyone in the area. Every morning when she woke up she climbed up the crumbling stony remains of some of the towers and scanned the area as it helped her feel at ease.

Once the small shivers disappeared and she warmed up she soon fell asleep. She often had very strange dreams, mostly of a hero who defeated Voldemort which she assumed was her conscience. Other times she awoke from nightmares of towns being burnt to the ground and people screaming. Often feeling guilty at this because of her apparent fated interaction with Voldemort but all she had been doing was hiding and trying not to get rounded up like everyone else. It was a miracle she had even made it to Scotland on her own at that age.

When Hermione awoke the next morning it was to the sounds of stones clattering about the ruins of Hogwarts. She often woke up to those sorts of noises, a small part of something always fell down at least every other day. Sometimes she'd fall out of bed when a huge piece came crashing down and woke her up in a panic thinking she was being attacked. Today however was a little different, the noises were the same, yet not. Sitting bolt upright suddenly she listened closely. _Someone_ was here. That wasn't the sounds of the castle crumbling, it was the sound of someone moving debris around. Hermione was already panicking as she looked around her makeshift home. If she could hear it, that meant it was fairly close. Sound travelled a little strangely in the ruins with all the holes and missing walls but she was certain they were close.

Hermione took a deep breath and quickly pulled on her jeans after throwing the blanket aside, the cold air biting at her bare legs. "OK Hermione… Don't panic, they don't know anyone is here… And they might be friendly." She whispered to herself in an attempt to steady her nerves. Slowly rising from her bed she walked towards the closed heavy oak door. Every morning she checked and there was no one in sight, she'd been here for _years_ so why was someone here now? The biggest question she kept asking herself though, was if they were someone like her or someone who followed _him_.

Her legs were shaking slightly as she leaned against the door as she tried to listen in on the noises. Looking down suddenly because her toes were going numb she saw a mist floating in under the door. Deciding it wasn't anything positive she turned back to her room and grabbed a backpack and started shoving as much as she could into it. The few books that were useful, the notes she had made and her limited number of clothes were all thrown in. Stuffing her feet into her trainers and tying the laces tightly she picked up her wand from the small wooden box that acted as her bedside table and held it in her right hand tightly as she threw the bag over her shoulder.

Listening intently outside her door again she waited for the sounds to move away. As soon as they did she pulled the door open as quietly as she could and stepped outside, grimacing a little as the wood creaked slightly. It was still early, the morning dew covering the patches of ground and rocks that were open to the elements. Her beaten up trainers she'd put on didn't provide much grip on the slippery rocks so she crept slowly down the corridor and hugged the wall. As she approved a large concave in the wall she looked out into the courtyard and immediately her eyes went wide in horror.

 _Dementors_ she thought fearfully. All the students had been told about them briefly when they were at Hogwarts. Dumbledore had said they were the perfect tools that Voldemort would use. Excellent at detecting magic and nearly impossible to fight off unless you were a powerful wizard, or just plain lucky. She wondered how much of her luck she'd used up though. Her eyes caught movement behind a wall as a woman came around the corner flanked by 2 wizards in black robes and wearing white masks that looked eerily similar to the colour of bone. The woman had a small glowing snake wrapped around her neck. Hermione wondered if that was a patronus. She'd read about them, luckily in a book that survived. They were the only known way to repel a dementor. She knew the incarnation but she didn't think she could ever pull it off having never practiced it before, besides the book said it was above the ability of most wizards and witches. Still peeking around the corner she took a closer look at the woman, she had dark hooded black eyes and a pale complexion. Her hair was all over the place and she strutted around the place like she owned it and kicking pieces of wood away and checking in broken class rooms.

The air felt like it almost freezing now and Hermione realised it was the dementors that were causing it, and had been causing it for a while. They must have been close or in the village before. Once again her luck must have held them at bay every time she had to visit. Hermione looked away and leaned against the wall, letting her head hit the hard stone in frustration. She thought about what she was going to do, if she could run; or if she had to try and fight. The sounds of stone being blast apart behind her caused her last thought to be ruled out. She stood no chance. She needed help, desperate help; but no one was around, or would come to save the defenceless muggle-born.

Deciding to run as she was clearly out matched and it would only be a matter of time before the dementors found her she turned to move away and head back down the corridor but her foot, proving her luck had ran out, landed on a slippery piece of stone floor and she slipped, falling back against the wall.

"Oof." She said quietly as she hit the wall and slid down, landing on the floor. Putting her hands out automatically to stop herself her wand fell out of her hand and clattered to the floor that seemed to echo loudly from such a small piece of wood.

"Who's there?!" Came the voice of the woman Hermione had been looking at. Without waiting to give them a chance she scrambled up, grabbing her wand and running off down the corridor. A quick look back at the door to the room she'd been staying in for these past years, it hurt her to leave it after all the work she had put into making it her home. "Oh crap… Oh crap.." Hermione shouted as she ran as fast as she could. She wasn't really sure where she planned to run but getting as far from where she was would be a good start. Panting slightly, she stopped at what used to be an entrance to the grounds. Scanning the area quickly she couldn't see anyone, she still felt the dementors presence though, the air still as cold as ice and biting into any exposed part of her clothes; which was a lot with all the small holes in her battered and worn out clothing. Across the grounds she saw a section of the castle that the room she couldn't open was sitting. The sun hitting the door of the mystery room like a beacon of hope. Hedging her bets on the room opening for her now. Gripping her now warm wand in her hand even more tightly she ran across the grounds, bolting towards the room.

As soon as she was in the open however, large chunks of earth exploded around her as she ran as hard as she could to the rubble on the other side of the grounds. Spells landed to her left and right and she could hear the shouting behind her. A quick look over her shoulder confirmed that they were chasing her. Stumbling on a few lose rocks Hermione finally made it. She climbed over a broken wall and ran to where the room was. The room itself was in an open area so she didn't have long to get inside.

Reaching the rooms oak door, she clutched at her side as she panted heavily and prayed the door would open. "Please open.. Please.." She panted out, all the while thinking _I need help_ over and over again. Nothing happened at first and she knew she couldn't run anymore, she was never a great runner and during her school fitness tests she would always come last. She was really feeling it as the stitch burned painfully. Suddenly however, just as she was about to give up and collapse on the ground there was a small rumbling from the door. Her eyes locked onto it, wide with disbelief. She'd been trying ever since it appeared to get it open and it had never opened before. _Maybe it only opens in emergencies?_ She thought quickly, wondering if this was one of the things Dumbledore meant by how the school would protect her.

The door started to open slowly and she pushed on it as if to urge it to open faster but the door didn't move any quicker. With it finally fully open the light flooded into the room but Hermione's shocked expression soon turned to worry again as she looked around the room. It looked empty apart from odd marking on the ground, there were no weapons she could use, nothing that looked like it could defend her; there was nothing. She made to rush into the room, deciding she could at least hid in there and hope the room didn't allow them to enter too but was hit by a spell in the back and fell forward hard, her chin hitting the ground and dazing her. "No!" She cried out as her wand flew from her grasp and into the room where it stopped on one the markings. She tried to scramble forwards and towards her wand but her legs were being pulled back by invisible ropes. Tears fell from her face as she desperately clawed at the dirt as her body was pulled backwards, the sounds of laughter ringing in her ears.

"Well well, what do we have here hmm?" A gleeful voice said behind her. Hermione was dragged, physically now by one of the wizards with the mask and dumped in front of the woman she'd seen earlier. The woman grabbed her hair and pulled her face up. "And what do you think you're doing here little lady?" She asked Hermione. The woman's breath was disgusting.

"S-Staying away from people like you.." Hermione said with confidence she didn't realise she had, her bright blue eyes trying to drill into the woman's cold black ones. The woman let go of her hair, causing Hermione to fall back onto the ground. "So we've got a brave one do we?" The woman said as she leaned against a large rock as she played with her wand. Her two henchmen flanking her still. The dementors were hovering towards the back, not daring to come closer with the patronus around.

"I've met people like you before little girl, I take great pleasure in killing them." She said with a sickening smile.

She was twirling her wand in her hand now as she spoke to Hermione and grinned when she noticed Hermione's attention was locked on it. A small flick of the wand and Hermione flew back a few feet with a yell, blood appearing on her arm and leg as it scratched against the stones that littered ground. Hermione pulled herself to her knees and stared daggers at the woman, only causing her to smile more.

"Hmm.. I think I'll play with you for a bit before killing you, the dark lord loves it when people fight back and so do I. They never win."

"Vold.. Voldemort can go to hell." Hermione spat out as she turned and tried to crawl back towards the open door. The cuts on her arms really hurt, and her leg was starting to go numb as he jeans stained with her blood and the cold air seemed to claw at her skin.

The woman and the two others stopped laughing now and Hermione was hit with another curse to which she instantly broke out into agony and screaming her lungs off. It felt like hours that the curse was on her but after a few moments she was released and she stopped thrashing around. Her limbs felt almost numb as the tears caused her vision to go blurry. She was still praying someone would help her however as she lied still on the ground, unable to move her muscles which twitched every now and then.

The woman walked calmly towards her before jumping the last meter and landing next to her dust and dirt hitting Hermione's tear stained face.

"Did it hurt?" The woman said in mock sympathy. "How much? Do you feel sick now?" She asked as she let out another laugh that made the hairs on the back of Hermione's neck stand up. It was getting even colder, the dementors looked agitated as they floated towards the back; clearly hungry and sensing the now badly beaten girl.

"I'm curious though... How long have you been here? Of course no one bothered coming here since the dark lord destroyed it. You look like a muggle-born, I thought we got rid of you all… Filthy excuses for witches and wizards." The woman said as she spat on the ground right next to Hermione's face. "You look familiar though, your eyes; I remember killing a couple with those eyes. Maybe you knew them, hmm?" She continued on, tauntingly but stopped suddenly.

Hermione felt her blood start to boil as she listened to the woman. unable to really talk, Hermione simply laid there, slowly regaining some control over her muscles. Her eyes however drifted back up to the woman at the sudden pause. The woman was looking confused now and staring at the open room a little way behind Hermione. Turning her head, and wincing slightly at the pain it caused she followed where she was looking. A bright green light was coming from the ground inside the room and now she noticed a small object floating a few inches off the floor. Squinting so her vision wasn't so blurry from her tears she gasped as she realised it was her wand.

".. No-" She pleaded quietly, her voice still shot from screaming. She couldn't lose her wand, she didn't have any way of getting it but just thinking about losing it was almost like giving up here and now. No one heard her though, everyone else was fixated on the room and what was happening. Hermione couldn't quite see from her position on the ground but those standing could make out large runes glowing brightly in the centre of the room. Long arcs of green light were spreading from the wand and hitting the runes on the ground. The light suddenly stopped and Hermione watched in pain as her wand glowed brightly and then disintegrated slowly, what she could only perceive as ash settled into the centre of the runes and as soon as the last spec ash hit the floor a blindly bright light erupted from the room. The woman and the two wizards were thrown backward a few feet from where they were. Hermione who was already on the ground only slid on her back a little.

Having shielded her face, the best she could as stones and dirt flew away from the room, she pulled her arm down and once again stared in astonishment at what she could see. There in the doorway, was a man who she assumed could only be a wizard. He was a little taller than she was, with messy black hair and incredible green eyes that she could see clearly even from the floor. He stood there in a dark coloured jacket and black jeans with large, dangerous arks of green light seemed to be emanating off of him as he stood in the doorway, his bright eyes staring into her blue ones.

She didn't know why but she could feel a warm pull coming from him, that he wouldn't hurt her. She also felt terribly, like the last of her energy had been ripped from her. She tried lifting her arm up and putting her hand out to him, even though she was a little far from him. Her arm wouldn't lift however so all she could do was extend her hand.

"Please…" She barely whispered to the figure. He didn't say anything as she said it but continued to look at her laying on the ground. She was pretty banged up, her clothes torn in many places and small and large streaks of red could be seen soaking into the fabrics. Cuts adorned her face and arms and tears were dripping from her eyes.

His eyes snapped upwards from hers suddenly as a dark yellow curse flew past him and hit the door frame, leaving behind a small score mark. The woman had gotten up and had her wand held up and pointing at the man, the glowing snake slithering at her feet now to keep the dementors at bay. The two other wizards with her were still on the floor, apparently unconscious from behind blasted back so forcefully. The woman wasn't saying anything which caused Hermione to think something serious was about to happen. Not long after being in the woman's horrible company spoke loudly about how she acted normally. Without warning she shot another spell, this time a bright orange, straight at him. Hermione had to marvel at the speed of the spell and the fact she didn't shout anything out. From the books she had read she knew about how incantations were important and that it took a long time and a lot of skill to be able to produce spells non-verbally.

Hermione, still on the group and unable to move very well expected him to pull out his wand. However, he simply held out his hand and a shimmer in the air appeared in front of him, causing the spell to hit an apparent invisible wall. The force of the spell caused him to alter his balance however and he furrowed his brow as he stared at the violent woman. At their confusion Hermione was trying to drag herself towards the man as best she could and the noise of scraping stones caused his eyes to flick down to hers quickly before looking back at the woman.

Obviously deciding to deal with the threat the man started to walk forward slowly, his hand still held out in front of him. The woman fired spell after spell, clearly getting angry as they all either dissipated on the shield or bounced off as the man got closer and closer. Hermione watched over her shoulder as the woman was using more dangerous spells, not just to harm the man but she seemed to be trying to hit her too but Hermione was untouched. She noticed if a spell got too close the shimmering barrier appeared out of nowhere and kept her from harm. Inwardly she was thanking whoever had sent him. She managed to get to where the man had stopped, fairly close to where she was originally, so it wasn't far she had to pull herself but it felt she hadn't used her muscles in weeks so it was a long time for her. Without knowing why, she grabbed his trouser leg and thanked him, although she wasn't sure if he heard her.

As if he was waiting for her to reach him for whatever reason the man finally went on the attack. A bright blue beam of light shot out of his hand with the sound of a gun shot causing Hermione to yell in surprise. Sparks flew out and around her as spells collided. The woman seemed to be aiming for Hermione more than the man protecting her. She was dancing around, firing spell after spell as if it was fun. Hermione knew if any one of those spells were to hit here she would likely die.

Distracted by the colours and the heat of the spells she thought back to what the evil woman had said to her. _She killed my parents_ she thought bitterly. She had said she recognised her eyes and that a couple had died with the woman resembling her. Hermione wasn't a malicious person, but she hoped above all else she got what she deserved. For killing her family and causing her all that pain not so long ago, she should be punished. The feeling in her legs were slowly coming back and she rubbed them a little as the pain from all the scraped and cuts started to come back. It was all that woman's fault. She could have had her parents, laughing with her dad and having hugs with her mum. They could have gone into hiding together, had been in-fact. She missed her dad, and she missed her mum. She felt only what could be described as hatred for the gleeful looking woman in front of her as she threw spell after spell towards her.

"Please…" Hermione said, a little louder now as her voice was coming back to her slowly. She half meant to get rid of the woman and half meant to get them out of there. The situation she found herself in had escalated so quickly she was having a hard time putting everything in order, or perhaps the curse had jumbled her thoughts.

The man had heard her and lifted his hand a little higher. The barrier that had been around Hermione dropped and the cold air she hadn't realised had gone bit into her skin again. She heard a whisper from the man, the first thing he'd even said and the next second the huge stone walls behind the woman cracked and started to fall down. The woman noticed and pointed her wand upwards, holding the rocks in place but they were too much even for her. The entire weight crashing down as her magic tried to hold it up caused the woman to drop to one knee. The mystery man didn't fire any spells at her, it would have been the best chance Hermione noted.

Eventually the woman realised she wouldn't be able to hold them any longer. She shot an evil look towards Hermione, not even bothering to give the person standing next to her any attention and spoke to her. "Filthy mudblood-" She spat as she rocks fell the last few feet, crushing her instantly. It wasn't a pretty sight and sound alone caused Hermione's stomach to turn, she had to use a lot of will power not to throw up. A few specs of blood hit her face but she hadn't noticed.

Hermione simply stared at the pile of rubble that buried all 3 of them, having mostly forgotten about the other two wizards. She didn't have long to stare though as she noticed the dementors that had hung back because of the patronus were fast approaching. She tugged on the stranger's trouser leg, hoping he noticed too. She didn't need for him to tell her that though as a bright blue light erupted in front of her, a foreign warmth spreading over her body. Blinded slightly she noticed a rough shape that looked like a stag, large horns pointed directly at the dementors. Soon enough the patronus charged at them, causing them to turn around and flee; the cold aura seemingly following them as they left.

She didn't quite know how she felt about how the man had saved her but with the last enemy gone Hermione found herself spent of Energy and let herself fall back against the hard ground as she breathed heavily. "T-Thanks." Was all she could think of saying to the man that saved her life before suddenly sitting upright and looking towards the room where she last saw her wand. The door was closed again, and she quickly wondered if it would ever open again. "My wand.. I need it." She said desperately, even though she saw it crumble to ash not long ago.

To her surprise however, the man spoke to her. "I'm right here." He said calmly. His voice was smooth, but didn't sound much older than she was. The stranger was looking down at her, the storming green eyes burning into her own. "W-What do you mean?" Hermione asked him, the waiver in her voice mostly from the effects of the torture curse.

He offered her his hand and pulled her to her feet so she stood before him, he was about a head taller than she was. "I said I'm right here. I _am_ your wand." He said to her which only cause her more confusion.

"Yes.. But I don't understand. My wand was destroyed, I saw it.. I think."

"Your wand is the anchor that brought me here, among other things. Metaphorically, I am your wand."

Hermione rubbed her eyes and put her hands up. "Wait.. You're not from here? I don't understand.."

Her knees were shaking and she felt like standing wasn't doing her any good. She wanted to lie down and hope she woke up tomorrow and this was all a dream. As if understanding what she was thinking the man grabbed her hand gently and started pulling her back towards to the ruins of the castle. It was silent for a while as they slowly walked back to what Hermione thought was where her room was; how he knew she didn't know.

"W-what's your name?" She suddenly asked. The man didn't look at her, still moving and pulling her along.

He didn't answer straight away, as if contemplating what he was going to say. Just as she was about to give up on that idea he spoke up. "Harry" He said.

"Harry who?" Hermione asked. He really kept silent this time, so she resigned herself to not knowing. _Harry_ she kept saying in her head. That was her saviour. "I'm Her-" She began to say but Harry cut her off. "I know who you are Hermione." He said, causing her to frown. "And how do you know who I am? I've never even met you before.. Not that I'm not grateful or anything.." She trailed off feeling embarrassed.

In no time at all she found herself outside of her make shift home. Harry pushed the door open and pulled her gently inside. "Sit there." He said and pointed to a heavy wooden crate that she used to stand on to grab things out of her reach. He let go of her hand and she sat down, placing her hands in her lap and not really understanding what was going on. He knelt down in front of her and looked into her eyes. "I'll explain everything, or at least try too, tomorrow. I don't know all the details myself." He said softly to her. She had the distinct impression he was going to tell her a whole bunch of information she wasn't going to like. Hermione nodded and looked down at her lap, she found it difficult looking into his eyes.

"First let's clean these up." He pointed to the cuts and marks on her legs where blood had seeped through the fabric.

"W-wait!" Hermione said loudly as Harry had started to pull her jeans off after taking her trainers off and placing them next to the chair. Her face was bright red and she grabbed her jeans to stop him. "What?" Was all Harry said, a confused look on his face before a thought soon crossed it. "I'm just going to heal your wounds, OK?" He said softly. Whenever he spoke it seemed to calm her down, she wasn't sure why but she wanted to know. "O-OK.." She said quietly, still blushing and too embarrassed to look up at him.

Harry pulled her jeans off slowly, stopping when Hermione winced or twitched before carrying on. Once they were off Harry placed them next to the crate and looked at her legs. Hermione sat their quietly and pulled her t-shirt down as much as she could. She noticed how warm his hands were though as he moved them around her legs causing her to blush more and internally scold herself, casting what she guessed were healing spells on the cuts which in some cases were pretty bad. After he finished, he cleaned up the cuts and moved on to her arms and face. She was forced to look up and at him as he did this and she couldn't help but get lost in his eyes as it seemed like the green was moving like rumbling waves.

"All done." Harry said causing Hermione to snap back to reality. "Thank you.. Harry." She mumbled, still conscious being only half dressed and wondering if he thought she was weird for staring at him.

He left her standing there and moved over towards the bed. "If you don't mind I'm actually pretty tired." He said bluntly and yawned as he pulled his jacket off and threw it into a corner of the room. "I'll answer questions tomorrow. Oh and don't worry we're perfectly safe here."

Hermione stood there with her arm out stretched and her mouth half open. "That's my bed.." Was all she was able to mumble as she watched Harry climb in and turn to face the wall after kicking his boots off. She stood there for a little while, wondering what to do. She didn't have a change of clothes, everything worth wearing was in her bag that was probably still outside somewhere. Hermione also wanted answers, but it was clear she wasn't going to get any until tomorrow so she decided to just suck it up and hope tomorrow will be a better day.

She walked lightly to her bed, the cold stone floor causing her to hurry. Lifting the blanket and sliding into the bed she spoke out. "Try anything _funny_ and I'll send you back to wherever you came from." Harry didn't say anything, only grunted slightly which was good enough for her. Getting comfy she let her head hit the make shift pillow and thought about what had happened earlier.

Where did Harry come from? Was her biggest question, follow by wanting to find out who he was and _why_ he was here. She had read about wands, and he definitely hadn't used one. He also said _he_ was her wand, whatever that meant. She had so many questions bursting through her brain she was having a hard time falling asleep even though today had been hell for her. Tilting her head over slightly she looked at Harry and could see his chest rising and falling and the soft sounds of deep sleep. He'd used magic she had never heard about before, it's no wonder he was tired.

Tugging the thing and frayed blanket and giving the figure next to her an annoyed look she got into a more comfortable position and settled for sleep. The last of her thoughts making their way through her head.

"I miss my wand already.."

Above them, a light golden dome shimmered in the moon light.


End file.
